Travel Photo| Mongolian Monks Karakorum, Mongolia

Mongolian Monks:

I captured this image of two young monks descending a set of stairs after playing a few notes on their conch shell in Karakhorum, Mongolia.

While touring the Erdene Zuu monestary in Karkorum, Mongolia, I saw these two young monks playing their conch shells on a wooden podium in the centre of the temple complex. In Mongolia, Erdene Zuu is one of the oldest surviving monasteries and a highlight of visiting Karakorum (a city that was the centre of the world during the reign of Genghis Khan). These two boys were rather shy, and not wanting to impose I asked my guide if it was okay to snap a quick picture while watching them outside Laviran Temple.

Buddhism is one of the major religions in Mongolia, although recent years has seen a resurgence of  Mongolian Shamanism (the apparent religion of Genghis Kahn).